Songs of Experience/Introduction

Songs of Experience by William Blake Introduction

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This poem was published in Songs of Experience in 1794.

Plate 30 of the Songs of Innocence and of Experience

Hear the voice of the Bard,
Who present, past, and future, sees;
Whose ears have heard
The Holy Word
That walked among the ancient trees;

Calling the lapsed soul,
And weeping in the evening dew;
That might control
The starry pole,
And fallen, fallen light renew!

‘O Earth, O Earth, return!
Arise from out the dewy grass!
Night is worn,
And the morn
Rises from the slumbrous mass.

‘Turn away no more;
Why wilt thou turn away?
The starry floor,
The watery shore,
Is given thee till the break of day.’

This work published before January 1, 1923 is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.